


Nothing's Different

by Duthea



Category: Suikoden, Suikoden I, Suikoden II
Genre: Existential Horror?, Gen, Headcanon, Originally Posted on Tumblr, but like in a casual way, idk how to tag this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-07 20:42:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18880864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duthea/pseuds/Duthea
Summary: Tir confides in Riou about his worries regarding Gremio.





	Nothing's Different

Riou stepped onto the terrace of his castle. He’d been looking for Flik, so when his eyes met bright red and gold instead of the blue he’d expected it took him a second to realize who he was seeing. Especially when it was a person he’d never seen here before.

“Tir?” he asked, stopping in the doorway. “I thought you’d gone home already.”

Tir’s back was turned to him, and his head tilted just slightly, before he released his grip of the railing and turned to face Riou.

“What, am I not welcome?” he asked with a teasing grin.

“Of course you are,” Riou said, walking up to the older boy. “I’m glad you decided to stick around a bit longer. You usually leave so suddenly. N-not that I blame you! I’d go home too if I could…”

He trailed off, realizing he might’ve made the situation awkward. But Tir nodded.

“Yeah, I get you.”

He sounded like he understood exactly how Riou felt.

Tir leaned against the railing and looked up to the sky, exhaling a breath.

“Hey. Can I talk to you about something?”

He sounded serious, and Riou tensed in response.

“Of course,” Riou said.

Tir motioned for him to come closer, and Riou walked over to stand next to him, not quite leaning against the railing yet. Tir looked down at the castle, looking like he was gathering his thoughts, and Riou stayed quiet, waiting, watching him.

Tir was taller than him, but Riou had always been short. Whenever he stood next to Tir, he felt a bit self-conscious of his looks. Tir had sharp eyes and a powerful presence, even at his relatively short stature. He commanded respect with ease, while Riou, with his chubby cheeks and big round eyes, mostly just made people want to ruffle his hair and give him sweets. He doubted anybody would respect him if he didn’t have Shu and an army backing him up.

“What do you think about Gremio?” Tir said suddenly, breaking Riou from his thoughts.

“Gremio?” Riou repeated. What was this about? “Uhm, he seemed like a kind person, from what I’ve seen him… Why do you ask?”

“What else?” Tir asked, ignoring Riou’s question.

“What else… He loves you a lot, he’s strong and dependable, he’s a great chef… But you know all of this, right? You’d know him better than me…” Riou said, a bit miffed.

“Yeah…” Tir sighed. “I do know him better than anybody else. We’ve spent the last two years travelling together, after all. But…” Tir trailed off, looking out into the distance.

“But?” Riou asked, after Tir’s silence had gone on long enough to start worrying him.

“There’s something I’m worried about. I’ve never talked about it. I kind of feel like I shouldn’t talk about it anywhere near Gremio himself, but now that I’m this far away…”

Riou listened quietly, starting to realize what a huge secret Tir was entrusting him with.

“Why me?” Riou asked, then realized how rude his words sounded. “No, I mean… If it’s this important, why tell me about it? Why not somebody you know better?”

“You remind me of myself,” Tir said, giving Riou a slight, not especially happy smile. “Well, not in the sense that you’re similar to me. You’re a way nicer kid than me.”

“No way!” Riou said, in disbelief. “You’re a nice person, Tir!”

“Thanks,” Tir said simply. “But if you’d met me, say, three years ago? You’d think I was the biggest brat you’ve ever seen.”

“I can’t believe that,” Riou said, shaking his head. Tir, a brat? He couldn’t even imagine.

“Hey, ask anybody that knew me back then, and they’ll tell you the same thing,” Tir said with a fond smile and a shrug. “Anyway, we got off track.”

“Right, I’m sorry,” Riou said. “Please go on.”

“See, that’s something you’d never hear me saying back then. …Maybe not now either. Anyway, another reason I’m telling you is because you’ve got a True Rune, just like me,” Tir said, fiddling with the glove on his right hand. Riou unconsciously touched his own glove, tracing the edges of the Bright Shield Rune.

Tir leaned against the railing, exhaling a breath.

“Gremio died once.”

“What?” Riou asked, because he couldn’t have heard what he thought he did.

“Gremio died once. His soul got sucked inside this thing,” Riou said, pulling his glove off and showing Riou the ominous Rune on his hand. The Soul Eater.

“But… But he’s alive?” Riou said, uncertain.

“Yeah. It was only a miracle that brought him back,” Tir said, his eyes locked onto the Rune he was lightly rubbing with his fingers.

Riou stayed silent, trying to understand. Died and then came back… Like a zombie? But he seemed human… Was that what Tir worried about? That Gremio might become a zombie or something…

“So… are you worried he’s not back the same he was before?” Riou suggested.

Tir’s eyes, wide and intense, met Riou’s so fast he was startled.

“…That’s amazing. How did you figure that out? Are we this similar?” Tir asked, relaxing just slightly, but not breaking eye contact.

“Well, I figured, that’s what I’d worry about… I thought of how Viktor’s loved ones were turned into zombies after their death, so…” Riou fidgeted, turning to look away, unable to withstand Tir’s sharp gaze any longer.

“Oh, right… That was…” Tir said, his voice lowering as if he was talking mostly to himself. “Well, that’s not exactly what I was worried about, but it is a whole new fear to consider.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Tir sighed. “Hey, I’m about to tell you something nobody but me knows about, so lean closer.”

Riou did as told, not saying a word. He even held his breath as Tir begun to talk in a low whisper.

“Back in the final battle, two years ago… It’s a long story, but the important part is that I was protected from something by the souls of people important to me who had been eaten by this guy.” Tir gestured at the Soul Eater.

Tir usually didn’t refer to his Rune by its real name, Riou had noticed. It was always things like “this thing” or “this guy” or “this jerk right here” or “ol’ muncher” or “Ted’s memento” and many more, depending on what kind of a conversation it was and who he was talking to. Riou barely ever heard him say the words “Soul Eater” outside of when Tir was calling upon the power of the Rune.

“And back there, I saw them, for a moment. The people whose souls protected me. Ted, Odessa, my dad, and… Gremio.”

Riou nodded. He’d heard of Odessa, of course, and he knew Tir’s father had been on the opposite side of the war, and he’d heard him mention Ted sometimes, though he had no idea who the guy had been.

“But, the reason I’ve never told anybody this is because back then, Gremio had already returned to life.”

Riou nodded, then froze as he begun to understand what that implied.

“Tir, are you saying…” he trailed off, not daring to finish the sentence, but hoping Tir would tell him he misunderstood.

Tir nodded.

“That’s right. Gremio’s soul, which was eaten, never came out of this thing even though he came back to life.” Tir raised his hand, holding it up against the sky, palm open wide.

“Gremio’s soul is still in there.”

Riou stared at the Soul Eater, horrified.

“What… what does that mean?” he asked.

Tir lowered his hand, making a fist.

“Who knows?” he sighed. “I don’t. I have no idea. I wish I could ask Ted, he had this thing way longer than I did. But he probably wouldn’t understand it any better than me. All I can do is guess.”

“…What’s your guess?” Riou asked, filing away this information about “Ted” to maybe ask about later.

Tir stared into the distance with a pained expression.

“…Nothing I want to be true. Maybe what was brought back isn’t Gremio at all, but something that’s really good at pretending. Maybe it doesn’t even know it’s pretending. Because, you know, nothing’s different about Gremio now than the way he was before. He’s the same as ever. Nobody else has noticed anything off, either. Not that I’ve asked. So if it’s not him, then… Nobody would know.”

Riou shivered at the thought.

“Or maybe he really is Gremio, but soulless,” Tir said. “But in that case, what is a soul? If a person with no soul acts the same as a normal person, what is a soul, actually? Isn’t it supposed to be the essence of a person, the thing that makes you yourself? What does it mean to eat somebody’s soul? If a person can live without a soul, what’s the purpose of a soul? And what’s the purpose of this guy?” He made a vague gesture with his right hand.

“That’s… that’s heavy…” Riou said, feeling something like pressure on his chest. He leaned against the railing heavily.

“Sorry,” Tir said.

“Please don’t say sorry, when you’re the one who’s been dealing with this alone for two years… So what are you going to do now?” Riou asked, relaxing his grip on the railing.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing? Why?” Riou asked, shocked by how casual the reply was.

“Well, what happens if I do something? Best case, Gremio gets really upset. Worst case, I lose Gremio forever. …I’d rather keep pretending nothing’s wrong. I’m not really looking for advice, honestly. I just wanted to get this off my chest.”

Tir let go of the railing and turned away.

“Anyway, you’ll keep this a secret, right? I know I can trust you.”

“Of course. Where are you going?” Riou asked.

Tir stopped and looked back.

“I’m going home, of course. Gremio’s going to worry if I stay too long.”

Tir flashed Riou a smile and a wave, then turned and walked away. Just as Riou was about to call for him to stop, he did.

“Oh yeah, you were looking for Flik, right? I saw him heading to the training hall.”

“Wha?” Riou blinked, then remembered why he’d come here in the first place. “How did you-”

“What, I was right?” Tir looked over his shoulder with a grin. “He’s the guy you always go to for advice first, so I just guessed.”

“I do?”

“You didn’t notice? It reminded me of myself with Gremio. Hey, don’t tell Flik anything about this either, even if you trust him.”

“I wouldn’t!” Riou said, a bit offended Tir would suggest that. “I wouldn’t tell a secret to anybody, especially something this important.”

“Yeah, you’re like that. You’re a really good kid, Riou. Don’t change.”

With that, Tir walked back into the castle. Riou stayed there for a bit longer, thinking about what he’d heard.

If somebody’s not themselves anymore, but nobody notices… What changes? What difference does it make? If Nanami was replaced by somebody who looks and acts exactly the same, would he know? …He didn’t want to think about that.

Did Gremio know? …There’s no way to find out, unless he was asked, but the only people who knew wouldn’t ask.

Riou sighed, looking at the people below in the yard going about their business. He saw Tir, and watched him walk through the yard and out of the gates, and followed him with his eyes until his red qipao disappeared from sight completely.

Nothing was different from before.

He turned to go inside and look for Flik.


End file.
